Cardinal Mooney girls basketball players feel this is the year they will win state title

SARASOTA — It was a game Kali Barrett had participated in — and won — the previous two years.

But this year’s regional championship victory meant a little bit more, as evident in Barrett’s eyes and emotions.

“It feels different than the past years,” Barrett said. “We’re just a family. The juniors have been together the past three years.”

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Barrett, one of the six juniors on this year’s Cougars’ team, has won the regional championship the past three seasons. Bri Behn, Sy'Monique Simon, Mishyah Rumph, Josie Maloni and Avery Davis are the other juniors.

As a team, this is Cardinal Mooney’s fourth straight regional title.

The Cougars have reached the Class 3A State Championship game the past three seasons.

The one thing that is missing is a title.

Barrett has a feeling about this year.

“It feels a lot different,” she said. “This is our year. With the team we have, we’re going to do it this year. Come back as champions.”

Four years ago, when none of the current players were on the team, it was Miami Country Day, 59-34. Three years ago when the majority of the team was freshmen, it was Westminster Academy of Fort Lauderdale, 44-41. Last year, it was Miami Country Day again, 54-38.

This year, the second-seeded Cougars (21-6) play third-seeded Seffner Christian (25-4) 1 p.m. Wednesday at RP Funding Center in Lakeland.

In the other 3A State Semifinal, top-seeded Miami Country Day (20-8) plays fourth-seeded Providence School (26-2) out of Jacksonville 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The winners meet 5:30 p.m. Friday for the championship.

“We’re more prepared,” Cougars coach Marlon Williams said as the program looks for the first state championship in program history. “Some of the girls are going for a third time. Hopefully, the third time is a charm. We’ve got to be prepared and be ready to play some good basketball.”

Cardinal Mooney enters the Final 4 having won 13 straight games by an average of 18 points per game. The Cougars have not lost since a 59-35 setback to St. Thomas Aquinas in the Tampa Bay Christmas Tournament on Dec. 30.

Barrett thinks that may have been the turning point.

“Maybe after the Christmas Tournament. We got our butt kicked by St. Thomas Aquinas,” she said. “We haven’t lost yet. We’re on a run. I just think this is our year.”

Sam Kotasek is the only senior on the roster. Kotasek did not play at Cardinal Mooney her freshman season. She transferred from Sarasota Christian Academy for her sophomore year.

Kotasek also can see the transformation in the Cougars’ players.

“I really think we’ve come together so much as a team,” she said. “We have so much love for each other in a way we never have before. I’m so proud of everyone. We’ve played together since we were so young. They’re all getting so mature and they’ve learned so much. Something feels different about this year.”

Kotasek thinks it was at a December tournament where the Cardinal Mooney players formed a strong bond.

“This year we went to so many weekend tournaments. There was one where we connected so much as a team,” she said. “We went through something and we all rallied around one player. That brought us so close. We can tell each other anything. We’re all sisters. That’s what changed it for us.”

Ranked 10th in the state by the Florida High School Athletic Association, Cardinal Mooney has rallied on the court as well. The Cougars’ six losses have come to teams that have a combined record of 133-37. All while playing the fifth-toughest schedule in the state.

“I have a great group of young ladies who work well together. I’m proud of them,” Williams said. “There’s a special feeling. You can feel the energy once you come into the gym and they start playing. They are a special group.”

“Our coaches really dedicated so much time and effort and showed they care for us. They put in so much time,” Kotasek said.

“The players have such a love for the game that I’ve never seen before. They spent all year playing this game and it just showed they love it this much.”

The three-year juniors want to do it for their three-year senior.

“It’s our senior’s, Sam’s, last year, and we all want to do it for her,” Barrett said.

For a team going back to the Final 4 for the fourth straight year, third consecutive with the core group of players, the Cardinal Mooney players seem oblivious to the pressure. Or at least they are masking it well.

“There’s a little pressure since the football team won,” Barrett said of the Cougars’ football team that captured the Class 3A State Championship in December in Tallahassee, the school’s first since 1972. “Besides that, we’ve always been humble. As long as we play together, we’re going to get there.”

“We don’t talk about pressure. We just talk about playing good team basketball, playing good defense, moving the ball on offense,” Williams said. “We didn’t talk about pressure. We just talked about playing together. We do have a goal in mind: Trying to get back to Lakeland, yes.

“These girls are very special.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Cardinal Mooney girls basketball in Final 4 for fourth straight year